Living on a Food Stamp budget

On August 27th I will be doing a chef challenge marathon at St. Luke's church on Van Ness at Clay. Yesterday I met with Jessica at the S.F. Food Bank to discuss some of what we will be doing.

I learned that a family on food stamps has on average 1.33 to spend per meal. I decided to spend a month taking the food stamp challenge.

I went over the costs and what I spend and decided that if I wanted to use oil and seasonings that I would have to bring that number down to 1.22 per meal for fresh ingredients.

I will not be subjecting anyone else in the household to this experiment so I will be cooking for one which is an additional challenge.

Anything bought in bulk would have to be used before the end of the month. I will have to cook individual meals or one large meal and eat leftovers no matter how tired I become of them.

This is not unique; Many seniors live alone and struggle with cooking for one every day. This is also true of young mothers whose child is  breastfeeding or on formula.

I currently weigh 155 lbs at just barely over 5 feet 4 inches. My chest is 42 inches and my waist just under 30. I do work out and will continue to all month.

I offer this information so that I can see if I lose or gain or if the muscle to fat proportion changes.

I am also getting a blood test today to measure my blood sugar and blood sodium levels.  

My goal is to keep my health stable.

I am fortunate in that I spent a few months working as a teacher for Raw Satisfaction. The food budget was very small. I had to create a 5 course meal for 6 people for $30.00. That is 1 dollar per course. As you can imagine this was a difficult task. I found the cheapest stores in the city and you can imagine how often I bought natural or organic on that budget.

My current task is even harder in that all of those courses or one course has to be 1.22 and I will try to be nutritionally complete.

I will monitor my nutrition and caloric intake via http://www.fitday.com

I am also fortunate in that this month is my birthday and I have a lot of wonderful friends in San Francisco who will be inviting me over for dinner or taking me out. On those days I can spend my 3.66 on breakfast and lunch.

I will do my best to post daily or close to it. And I begin.

Breakfast.

Fusion On The Fly West Coast

Fusion on the fly West Coast events are coming soon. Watch this space for details.

Homemade Tortillas

I will be perfectly honest.

The only reason I made tortillas last night was because I did not want to put my shoes back on and go out for them. I had been shown how many years ago and pulled out a grey bit of paper from my files and gave it a try.

Since the measurements were by the hand and bowlful I adapted them to be accurate and having no lard in the house used butter. WOW...butt works. Inauthentic may, but seriously delicious.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter melted in
3/4 cup water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl and melt your butter into your water.

Stir into dough mixing very well. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. Then break off dough in small balls.

If you want a large tortilla you can roll the dough very thinly, a smaller one you can press between your hands until thin. They don't have to be perfect rounds.

Put on a medium hot skillet and when it begins to puff turn over. They cook in about a minute keep warm to stuff.

I had a sirloin flap in the house that I grilled and sliced and stuffed my mini tacos with steak, onion and cilantro.

Having some tortilla dough left this morning I made a few with melted cheese to have with eggs.

These are so good I may never buy them again.